Compact protective hoods enclose the head of a wearer in a crown either of transparent material or of opaque material with a transparent visor. Respiration is typically filtered through a mouth piece, oral-nasal cup or a full-face piece. The hood is sealed about the neck by an elastomeric dam. To make the storage package compact and portable the hood assembly must be folded for storage until deployment.
Protective hoods must operate effectively and reliably virtually every time. Inconsistencies in folding may negate the high protection factor of well-designed hoods. By analogy, the best designed parachute may be rendered ineffective by poor packing. Thus, even when a hood is designed and constructed to the highest specifications, the manual packing of the hood introduces an element of uncertainty into an otherwise highly governed process. Improper folding of protective hoods may lead to creasing or mechanical stress that creates a risk of leaks. At the same time, tight folding is a design requirement to keep the folded package size at a minimum.
A long-felt but unfulfilled need in the art exists for a hood that can be folded with a high degree of accuracy and reproducibility. Another need in the art exists to provide a hood that reduces the time and skill level required to fold the assembly to the requisite quality control target. Yet another need in the art exists to provide a compact protective hood that folds into a tight package but also provides semi-rigid structural support for hood accessories.